Today, the eve of July 4, is an inspiration for those into the long slog and provides a little irony along the way.
On 3 July 1754, a young lieutenant colonel from Virginia suffered the only surrender of his career at the Battle of Fort Necessity, an early climax of competition between the French, the British, and the Indians. George Washington had been acting under fiery instructions from the colonial governor which one historian has called “an invitation to start a war”.
There is debate about what wars the battle actually started. For Americans, it is the French and Indian War. For Europeans and for English-speaking Canada, it is a prelude to an early world war, the Seven Years’ War, while for French-speaking Canada, it is a prelude to the War of Conquest.
The debate is not merely for historians.
Fast forward to 1765, when the UK parliament passed the Stamp Act to replenish the coffers emptied by the Seven Years’ War. It fell heavily upon American colonialists. Though the Act was soon repealed, the damage was done.
On 3 July 1775, Washington rode out to take command of the Continental Army. Over the following years, he and his political leaders would call upon French and Indian assistance to defeat the British.
